The present invention relates to an articulator for dentistry. More particularly, it relates to an articulator which has a base plate, an extension plate, and a frame with two columns and a traverse.
Articulators of the above mentioned general type are known in the art. During performing dental works they are used for exact reproduction of anatomic chew conditions. In connection with this the teeth model is fixed in exactly reproducible way in the articulator.
Known articulators conventionally are produced with precision. However, during mounting, deviations from one device to another device cannot be completely avoided due to conventional threaded connections between the columns of the frame and the base plate or between the turnable traverse of the frame and the upper extension plate. This finally leads to differently oriented molds when the molds must be transferred from one device to another. Is is desired not to send the articulator together with the molds. The required fine adjustment is not achieved with the releasable threaded connections.
An articulator is known, in which independently on the mold position or the height of the device, a fine adjustment in all dimensions is possible. It permits transfer of molds from one device to another. Therefore the articulator communication between a technician and a dentist is dispensed with. Also articulators of different origin can be used. It is here required to screw a mounting plate in each of both mold supports. Then a model plate is arranged on a respective one of the mounting plates and connected by gypsum for equalization of space differences.
For identical connection a tensioned metal centering key is required between the mold plates. Moreover, for axes-dependent identical connection, an axiator is required for bringing the centric key in a proper position relative to the articulator axis. All these adjusting steps are performed on the one hand by dental technicians and on the other hand by dentists before the operation of the device. During performing of the method, a high degree of accuracy is achieved, however, the required parts are expensive in production and cost. Since the adjustment requires numerous working steps by a dental technician, expenses for required time must be taken into consideration. In addition, the gypsum used for bridging the space difference is susceptible to breakage and is not suitable for sending from the laboratory to the dentist and vice versa.